BOSTON: LGBT Groups March For First Time In St. Patrick's Day Parade

History marched through South Boston on Sunday as gay organizations took their place for the first time in the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. Joining them in front of hundreds of thousands of green-clad revelers was Mayor Martin J. Walsh, the first Boston chief executive to walk the route in two decades. “I’m very excited,” Walsh said just before stepping off under a light, cold rain. “We can finally move beyond the issue of inclusiveness.”Walsh, who tried unsuccessfully in 2014 to negotiate the inclusion of a gay rights group, announced last week that he would walk the snow-shortened route from the Broadway MBTA station to Pleasure Bay because organizers had invited OUTVETS, which includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender veterans.The former mayor, Thomas M. Menino, had consistently boycotted the parade because its organizers from the South Boston Allied War Veterans, backed by a US Supreme Court ruling, refused to allow gay groups to participate. But on Sunday, politicians were a major, can’t-miss part of the festivities. Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito were among them.

RELATED: Irish Queers will be staging their annual protest in New York City tomorrow despite the first time ever inclusion of a single LGBT group. Visit their Facebook event page.